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The way from Cluj to Auschwitz was by train. We were put in cattle cars. [Editor’s note: 16,148 Jews were deported from Cluj in the period 25 May - 9 June 1944.] Forgive me for saying this, but there was no place to relieve ourselves. No water or anything else.
Babies were crying in the arms of their mothers, whose bosoms were dry for lack of food. Whenever an elderly died, we would stack the body upon other corpses, to make more room in the crowded car. I didn’t do this myself, but I witnessed it being done. I was still young, so I didn’t quite grasp the meaning of what was going on. But can you imagine what was going on in that car? We finally got to Auschwitz [Mr. Blum’s voice is more and more feeble], and they made us get off.
The whole family was there. The Nazis were selecting the newly arrived and two groups were being formed: men and women. My brother Eugen and I were pointed in one direction, while my mother and my sister were sent to the other group. I don’t know what became of them. That was the last time I ever saw them… Some inmates later told me that they spotted them at work – which means they weren’t sent straight to the gas chambers. This is how we ended up in the Auschwitz-Birkenau labor camp.
They shaved our heads, removed our clothes, made us take a bath, and had us tattooed with numbers. I ceased to be an individual with a name as I became ‘Auschwitz 10919’ [Interviewer’s note: Mr. Blum shows the tattoo on his left forearm.]. There was a factory near Auschwitz. It belonged to I.G. Farben [German industrial conglomerate] and was called Buna. [Editor’s note: synthetic rubber plant located at the outskirts of the Polish town of Monowice; it was established in the spring of 1941.] 22,000 of us ‘Heftling’ – which means ‘inmates’ – worked there. [Editor’s note: Established in 1942, Buna was the largest sub-camp of Auschwitz.
Babies were crying in the arms of their mothers, whose bosoms were dry for lack of food. Whenever an elderly died, we would stack the body upon other corpses, to make more room in the crowded car. I didn’t do this myself, but I witnessed it being done. I was still young, so I didn’t quite grasp the meaning of what was going on. But can you imagine what was going on in that car? We finally got to Auschwitz [Mr. Blum’s voice is more and more feeble], and they made us get off.
The whole family was there. The Nazis were selecting the newly arrived and two groups were being formed: men and women. My brother Eugen and I were pointed in one direction, while my mother and my sister were sent to the other group. I don’t know what became of them. That was the last time I ever saw them… Some inmates later told me that they spotted them at work – which means they weren’t sent straight to the gas chambers. This is how we ended up in the Auschwitz-Birkenau labor camp.
They shaved our heads, removed our clothes, made us take a bath, and had us tattooed with numbers. I ceased to be an individual with a name as I became ‘Auschwitz 10919’ [Interviewer’s note: Mr. Blum shows the tattoo on his left forearm.]. There was a factory near Auschwitz. It belonged to I.G. Farben [German industrial conglomerate] and was called Buna. [Editor’s note: synthetic rubber plant located at the outskirts of the Polish town of Monowice; it was established in the spring of 1941.] 22,000 of us ‘Heftling’ – which means ‘inmates’ – worked there. [Editor’s note: Established in 1942, Buna was the largest sub-camp of Auschwitz.
Period
Year
1944
Location
Poland
Interview
Zoltan Blum